


Open Mic Night

by saintjimmyoh



Category: Love Live! School Idol Project, Love Live! Sunshine!!
Genre: Eli is a nerd, F/F, Multi, a cameo from Dia Kurosawa, idk i'm bad at tagging this stuff, implied niconozoeli, implied nozoeli - Freeform, more so than usual, sort of a college AU sort of canon
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-05-02
Updated: 2017-05-02
Packaged: 2018-10-27 02:57:04
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,915
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10800246
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/saintjimmyoh/pseuds/saintjimmyoh
Summary: After being discovered playing a guitar, Eli finds herself at an open mic night.





	Open Mic Night

**Author's Note:**

> Just a heads up, any italics are song lyrics sung in English. Links are to said songs so you can listen along while you read, if you so wish to.

It’s a Thursday night. Normally, Eli would be studying on a Thursday night, preparing herself for her Friday classes. She’d have a good rhythm going on; music playing through her earphones as she worked, with a mug of tea close by. After a couple hours, she’d stretch and make herself some dinner, maybe doing some goofy dancing in the kitchen if Nozomi or Nico weren’t in the apartment. She’d eat (normally it was instant ramen or something similar) before heading back to her room and doing a couple more hours of studying before going to bed so she could be well rested for her 8am class.

 

Tonight though, she wasn’t in her room. No earphones in her ears, no study material anywhere in sight.

 

She looks around, taking in her surroundings. She’s in a coffee shop, a place that’s popular with the students of the university she attends. Normally it’s a well lit place during the day, the place ticking over with students as they come and go; conversations of a wide range of topics from coursework woes right through to plans for the weekend. It’s a place Eli knows well; she drops in every so often to see Nozomi who works part-time in the shop as a barista.

 

The shop is a little more moodily lit this evening, the normally bright lights in the building dimmed and tea light candles adorning the tables. There’s a space cleared in one of the corners where a projector screen normally lives. The screen is wound up and a mic is set up on a small stage in front of a bar stool ‘borrowed’ from the university Drama department. A small sign just to the right of the stage reads “Open Mic Night.”

 

Eli takes a moment to look at herself. She’s wearing skinny blue jeans and a grey top emblazoned with the crest of the classic British rock band Queen, topped off with a black leather jacket. In her right hand she holds a Gibson acoustic guitar, gifted to her by her parents on her eighteenth birthday.

 

She looks up into the ceiling, as if searching for a sign from the ceiling tiles, sighing to herself gently. “How did I get here…?”

 

-

 

Sunday nights are usually the quietest nights in the apartment. Nico is normally spending the night with her siblings back at her family’s place, and Nozomi more often than not is working her barista job. This means Eli is normally alone in the apartment on Sunday nights, which gives her the perfect opportunity to indulge in her secret passion.

 

She sits on the couch in the living room of the apartment, staring intently at her laptop screen where a video is [playing](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4e6oDGfLZrU). A man in his late 40s is playing an acoustic guitar on a stage, singing a song in English. He’s being watched by a crowd who are singing along with every word. Eli is entranced by the performance, finding herself singing along with the performance.

 

_“So here I go; I’m still scratching around in the same old hole, my body feels young but my mind is very old…”_

 

The performance eventually ends, and the crowd are on their feet applauding the man as the video ends. Eli smiles to herself as she grabs the acoustic guitar lent on the couch to her right, sitting it on her lap. She adjusts a few of the tuning screws, tuning the guitar to just the way she wants it.

 

The acoustic guitar is Eli’s pride and joy. She had lessons when she was younger and living in Russia, but never pursued playing the guitar actively until her second year at Otonokizaka high when, while visiting with her parents in London, she discovered indie music playing on the radio. She had been instantly hooked, seeking out the music on an almost daily basis and falling in love with the genre as a whole.

 

Placing a capo on the second fret of the guitar, she strums the guitar once, letting the sound wash over her. It’s a sound that calms her spirit and helps her relax. She smiles again as her left hand sets up a chord, ready for her to begin playing.

 

She strums once, and begins to [sing](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1xMVROrKbgI).

 

_“When you walk away, you don’t hear me say; please, oh baby, don’t go; simple and clean is the way that you’re making me feel tonight, it’s hard to let it go…”_

 

It’s a song that she was introduced to a few months ago by Nico, an English version of a song by Utada Hikaru. Eli had fallen in love with the song and had been working on an acoustic version of it for a while, playing with different keys and tempos until she felt she had a good version of the song.

 

She continues to play and sing, thinking about nothing in particular as she lets herself become immersed in playing the guitar. As the song ends, she lets the final chord ring out as she closes her eyes, a smile on her face.

 

She only opens her eyes again when she hears someone clap in the background. Turning her head, she finds Nozomi standing in the doorway with a huge grin on her face. Eli instantly blushes and puts the guitar down, standing up. “I, er…”

 

Nozomi’s grin only gets wider, somehow. “So, this is what Elicchi does with her Sunday nights? And here you were saying you were only studying…”

 

Eli’s blush gets a little brighter as she realises she’s been busted. She looks at her watch, noting that yes indeed, Nozomi is home early. She decides to try and deflect the situation. “I thought you were working until late tonight?”

 

“It wasn’t busy tonight so I called in that favour I told you about.” Nozomi begins to walk to the couch where Eli is still stood, slightly dumbfounded. “Besides, I wanted to spend the night with the cute and clever Elichika.”

 

Eli’s blush gets even more intense. “N-Nozomi!”

 

Nozomi laughs. It’s a melodic laugh, one that still gives Eli chills sometimes when she hears it. “You’re too easy sometimes, Elicchi.” Nozomi smiles as she takes Eli’s hands into her own, pulling them both down onto the couch. “I didn’t know you played the guitar, though.”

 

Nozomi lets the unspoken question hang in the air, and Eli lets out a breath she didn’t know she was holding. “It’s a long story.”

 

-

 

Eli is shaken out of her reverie as a girl jumps onto the stage, beginning a mic check. She recognises the girl as one of Nozomi’s colleagues at the coffee shop, Chika. There was always a smile on the younger girl’s face as she went about her work, Eli had noticed, almost as if the ginger haired girl was the sun herself bringing joy and happiness everywhere she went.

 

Chika finishes up the mic check and flashes a thumbs-up at Nozomi, who gives one back as she goes on with her work. Chika grabs the mic and begins to address the crowd of around thirty or fourty people in the shop. “Good evening everyone, and welcome to our fortnightly open mic night! We’ll be getting started here in just a few minutes with our resident beatnik poet, but as always if you’ve got something to share, have a word in my ear and we’ll happily welcome you on stage tonight!”

 

Chika makes eye contact with Eli, and she grins wider. “Also tonight, we’ll have a very special performance from a very special someone with a guitar!” She winks at Eli before continuing, “We hope you enjoy it all tonight!”

 

The crowd breaks into a smattering of applause as Chika salutes before jumping back off the stage and heading back toward the counter. Eli found herself wanting to get herself a drink just to try and settle her nerves, but as she moves to get up from her seat someone puts a hand on her shoulder. “Nervous, Eli?”

 

Eli turns her head to meet with the ruby red eyes of her flatmate Nico. She’s sporting a genuine smile, one normally reserved for her siblings, and Eli can’t help but return the smile as she answers, “More than you know, Nico.”

 

Nico chuckles as she puts a mug down on the table in front of Eli. “I thought you might need a little something to try and settle your nerves.”

 

Eli takes the mug into her hands, bringing it to her face and taking in the aroma of the liquid inside. “...Tea! Thank you, Nico!” She takes a sip, letting the drink warm her soul, before setting the mug back down.

 

Nico takes a seat next to Eli, putting her own coffee on the table. “Don’t mention it, Eli.” Nico grabbed Eli’s hand, taking it into her own and giving it a quick squeeze. “Let me guess, Nozomi talked you into this?”

 

“She said she wouldn’t buy me any chocolate for a month if I didn’t.”

 

Nico made a show of gasping dramatically. “That she-devil! How would you ever survive!?”

 

Eli chuckled, glad that Nico was here to distract her from her nerves. “I know, right?!”

 

Nico laughs as well, shrugging off her now signature pink cardigan and placing it on the back of her chair. She’s wearing a rather simple white t-shirt, adorned with a black star and a black skirt adorned with a white star. “Nice get-up there, Eli. You look the part, at least.”

 

Eli smiles. “I had some help from Kotori.”

 

“Oh, that would explain the real leather then. I don’t even want to know how much that jacket set her back. Geez, rich people sometimes…”

 

Eli wants to retort that the jacket was actually fairly cheap but is cut off by Chika, who’s back up on the stage. “Ladies and Gents, once again, welcome to Open Mic Night! I’m your host for the evening and your go-to to get on stage tonight, Chika! As always, we start with our very own beatnik poet. I wonder what she has in store for us tonight? Ladies and Gents, put your hands together for Diamond!”

 

Eli watches as a girl around her own age rises from one of the tables near the front and steps up onto the stage, taking a seat at the barstool. As the girl opens up a notebook, presumably to find the poetry she’s about to perform, Eli takes another sip of tea and relaxes into her chair, her mind drifting away to concentrate on what she’s about to do coming up.

 

-

 

An hour or so has passed, and as a young man takes a bow after a rather interesting breakdancing routine, Chika takes the stage. “Thank you, thank you! We’ll be taking a short break now, but when we come back, we’ll have a girl and her guitar take to the stage! See you in a few!” Chika salutes the crowd, placing the mic back on the stand before heading back toward the counter.

 

Eli watches her go, nerves now settling in as she realises she’s just a few minutes away from getting up onto the stage. Nico had gone to ‘freshen up’ in the bathroom, so Eli chooses to absent-mindedly play with her phone and check tweets for a few minutes. She notices Nozomi coming over, setting a bottle down on the table. “You’ll need that up there. Chika won’t let you off that stage for at least ten minutes, she’s probably more excited than I am that you’re playing the guitar tonight.”

 

Eli groans internally, but a small smile pushes its way onto her face all the same. “Why did I agree to this again, Nozomi?”

 

A smirk crosses Nozomi’s features as she responds, “Because you love me?”

 

“And you’re very lucky I still do love you.”

 

It’s said in jest, and Nozomi laughs her melodious laugh again before pulling Eli up from her seat and into a hug. “Seriously though,” she whispers into Eli’s ear, “I’m proud of you for going through with this. It’ll be a great experience for you.”

 

They stay like that for a moment or two before Eli pulls out of the hug. “Anything for you, Nozomi.”

 

“Gaaaaaaaaay!”

 

And just like that, the moment is broken. Eli can’t help but burst out in laughter as she turns to find Nico has come back to the table, a huge smirk on her face. “It’s almost time. You ready for this, rockstar?”

 

Eli nods. “About as ready as I’ll ever be.”

 

Nico’s smile is more genuine this time. “Good, ‘cause Chika is about to call you up on stage. Break a leg!”

 

Eli looks over to the stage, and sure enough, Chika is back with microphone in hand. “Okay guys, welcome back! It’s now time for our very special performance! This girl and her guitar are sure to delight, so there’s no time to waste! Everybody, put your hands together for Eli Ayase!”

 

The crowd breaks into applause as Eli takes one last look at Nico and Nozomi. Nozomi squeezes Eli’s hands one last time before letting them go, and Nico mouths good luck. Eli smiles, silently thanking them both as she grabs her acoustic guitar and making her way up onto the stage.

 

She takes her place on the bar stool and waves to the crowd. “Ah, uh, good evening everyone.” There’s a wolf-whistle from the crowd, but Eli can’t see where it comes from. “Easy now…” she mutters, and a few laughs come from the crowd. “So this is my first time on stage by myself. Some of you might know of me from the school idol scene, but I won’t be performing that kind of music tonight, as you might have gathered.”

 

She adjusts her position slightly, setting up a chord as she lays her guitar on her lap. “This is a song I’d like to dedicate to a friend of mine.” [She begins a solo](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=crhDWKLkpZc), slowly working her way into a song. She leans into the mic and begins to sing.

 

_“Well now then mardy bum…”_

 

There’s a shout of “Hey!” from the audience that Eli almost immediately recognises as Nico. She laughs to herself as she continues to sing.

 

_“Oh there’s a very pleasant side to you, a side I much prefer, it’s one that laughs and jokes around, remember cuddles in the kitchen yeah to get things off the ground and it was, up up and away! But it’s right hard to remember that on a day like today when you’re all, argumentative, and you’ve got the face on…”_

 

Eli continues to play, slowly getting more and more into the performance. Before she realises it, she’s come to the end of the song and she can hear applause coming from the crowd. She smiles sheepishly, muttering thanks into the microphone.

 

The crowd dies down, and Eli adjusts her position again. “So, uh, I’ve been told that Chika won’t let me off stage for another…” She checks her watch quickly. “...seven minutes? Ooh, okay. So I guess you’ve got me for a while longer. This next song I want to dedicate to a very special someone who’s here tonight, and who saved my life a few years ago.” [She strums the guitar once](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ycaocta_OCw), letting the sound wash over the audience, before launching into the new song.

 

_“Sitting on my own, chewing on a bone, a thousand million miles from home when, something, hit me, somewhere right between the eyes…”_

 

Eli lets her mind drift to her first year at Otonokizaka as she sings, remembering her fateful meeting with Nozomi. Without the purple haired girl in her life, Eli wouldn’t know where she’d be, and she’s truly thankful for the spiritual girl.

 

_“...I wanna talk tonight, until the morning light, about how you saved my life, you and me see how we are, you and me see how we are…”_

 

She looks out into the crowd and spots Nozomi back at the counter, a pure smile written all over her face as she listens to Eli play. Eli’s heart grows warm as she sees this, launching into the next verse.

 

_“All your dreams are made of strawberry lemonade, and you make sure I eat today, you take me walking, to where you played when you were young…”_

 

Eli loses herself to the lyrics as she continues to play and sing, and before long, she finds herself coming to the end of the song. She strums one last time, thanking the crowd again as they break out into more applause. Taking a look out into the crowd, she sees Nozomi coming up to the stage and before she knows it Nozomi is on stage and is dragging her into a deep hug.

 

“Elicchi…” she whispers. It’s all that needs to be said as the crowd claps harder, some whoops and whistles now being heard. Eli lets herself be lost to the embrace, the widest smile of the night adorning her face.

 

-

 

Later that night, back at their shared apartment, Eli, Nozomi and Nico are sprawled out on their couch, content to be in each other's company as they let the background music from Eli’s laptop provide all the conversation they need. Eli and Nozomi are snuggled together on one side of the couch, while Nico absent-mindedly plays with her phone with one hand while holding Eli’s hand with the other.

 

Eli looks between the two girls she’s with in this moment and realises she’s never been happier in her entire life.

**Author's Note:**

> Alternative Title: Indie Eli Gets All The Chicks
> 
> I have very strong feelings about the Rock Chick Eli SR. I also have very strong feelings about acoustic music. Thus, this fic was born.
> 
> This was written over a couple days and it felt very natural to write, surprisingly enough. This is also kind of a birthday present to myself. There was supposed to be a part as well where Dia and Eli interacted but I couldn't write something for it that I liked. Perhaps something I can write in the future, maybe.
> 
> I hope you enjoyed reading, and I'd love to hear any feedback you might have!


End file.
